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Oliver Cranmoor
Oliver 'Black Ollie' Cranmoor is the pirate captain of a mercenary dirigible. Basics Oliver Cranmoor grew up near the quays of the Thames River in London, England, being the third son and seventh child of a sky pirate and a dock harlot. Left to his own devices (as neither parent cared about any of their progeny beyond getting them to fend for themselves), he wandered the riverside docks and surrounding environs, surviving on the charity of strangers and his own abilities to take what he needed or wanted whenever opportunities arose. Cranmoor avoided conflict as much as possible; he had found early that direct conflict usually failed him. He developed a great love of rats, as they tended to be his constant (and usually only) companions on the wharves. His favourite form of entertainment was/is kicking stray dogs around, along with picking flowers and putting them in various arrangements in the dustbins of the city. Physical Appearance Cranmoor is approximately six feet tall, with brown hair and a bit of a potbelly. He walks with a slight limp in his left leg from an old injury that occurred during a failed raid over the American Southwest. Family and Relationships Cranmoor does not speak of his family and has no friends that are known of. The closest he ever comes to romantic involvement only occurs when he is docked at a brothel. He behaves himself quite well in them, as he became captain of his former airship (the Aberon) by the death of its captain (believed to be at the hands of a cabin girl) and does not wish to share his former captain's fate. History Early in his teen years, Cranmoor became involved with a small group of sky pirates as a lackey of sorts, doing whatever the pirates required of him; this eventually led to his joining their crew as a powder monkey (a job only marginally less dangerous than answering the whims of pirates). Augustus Magnuson (captain of the Aberon) took a small amount of pity on him, and took to raising Cranmoor as his own son. Midway through his twenties, Cranmoor was promoted to chief cook and bottle washer (j.g.) of the airship, having displayed a remarkable culinary skill at feeding the crew from seemingly nothing after the former cook died of scurvy (who nearly took most of the crew with him). Just before the Dirigible War, some of the crew of the Aberon attempted mutiny against Magnuson in a dispute over prize money. Caught in the pinch point, Cranmoor sided with the captain and helped to successfully put down the mutiny by poisoning the would-be mutineers the night before at dinner. Backing Magnuson seems to be the single solitary act of outright courage Cranmoor has ever displayed. This earned him the position of executive officer of the Aberon as a reward. In this position, Cranmoor's fears, through cowardice, became malice; he rapidly became known as 'Black Ollie' as a result of how he dealt with insubordination of any kind. Any refusal to obey his orders usually ended in death by rabid badgers or other indirect methods, always followed by a heartless "He should have listened to me." Magnuson began to rely heavily on Cranmoor as a result; his ship had never run smoother. Upon Magnuson's death (seemingly at the hands of the then-current cabin girl, who vanished immediately afterward), the pirate crew made Cranmoor their captain. Cranmoor's luck soon turned sour, however; his last raid from aboard the Aberon ended in disaster. Near Tucson, Arizona, USA, after Cranmoor had successfully raided the Picante train and stolen its gold, the US Marshals disabled and captured the Aberon, its stolen cargo of gold, and a large part of its crew. Cranmoor and some others escaped via aerocraft, and proceeded to pursue revenge against those who had ruined his most profitable raid ever. Luck was once more his enemy; the furor over his activities and the resulting manhunt forced him to quickly commandeer a dirigible and flee the USA. Cranmoor's current whereabouts are unknown, but he has lately become known as a mercenary; he sells his services to the highest bidder and is often employed by the Iron Phoenix in recent times if rumor is to be believed. Category:Original Characters Category:IAPS Canon Category:Freelance Characters